Barbara Natalie Nagel

Barbara Natalie Nagel is an Associate Professor in the German Department at Princeton University, specializing in rhetoric, affect theory, and interdisciplinary studies spanning gender, law, theology, and psychoanalysis. She joined Princeton in 2014 after research positions at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Her scholarship examines historical literary periods with emphasis on the Baroque, 19th-century realism, and contemporary critical theory.

Research areas include representations of ambiguous aggression in German realism, rhetorical strategies in flirtation dynamics, and the intersections of law and literature. Her monograph Ambiguous Aggression in German Realism and Beyond (2019) received acclaim for its interdisciplinary approach. Current projects explore Martin Luther's reformation of rhetoric and affect and the cultural implications of gendered violence in literary texts.

Nagel holds editorial roles for PMLA and serves on advisory boards for academic book series. She is affiliated with Princeton's Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, and international regional studies initiatives.